Okay, so there's this new thing in my life that I'm not entirely proud of. And if I'm granting full disclosure, it's not even new.
I have the Sims 3 on my iPod... and it's too much fun to put down. I've always loved the sims series, and the tycoon series as well, really any game where I get to create and edit a world and then have achievements and goals and the like to show my progress is golden to me. So the fact that Sims 3: Ambitions has become really addicting really fast should surprise exactly no one. However, I'm taking a break from (alright... simultaneously working on...) my Sim life in order to update my real blog about my real life. Here's what has happened in the past week:
1. I stared reading Paper Towns by John Green. I know- not at all the book I said I was going to read, but I brought it with me on vacation and couldn't put it down. I'm not done with it yet, but a few more reading sessions (hopefully today on the train in and out of the city...) and I should be done! I shall report back once I'm done, and then I guess it's time for another non-fiction book. No. Cheating.
2. My writing challenge starts tomorrow. I still have no idea what I'm going to do for it, all I know is that I'm going to be writing daily. I've gotten some good suggestions, and I really like them, but I can't decide between them AND my own ideas. *harumph*
3. Started cutting out the patterns for Jeremy's Jedi Costume. Next time we're both in Stamford, I need to measure him to double check that he really needs an extra large and not a large (I think he'll only need a medium, but he doesn't believe me...) and then I will start pinning and cutting the fabric. W00t!
4. We watched Lady and the Tramp. I forgot how much I enjoy that movie, which is to say a LOT. I really need to review the movies I've been watching. I also saw Kung-Fu Panda II in 3D and it was surprisingly awesome.
I've got to head out to my interview in the city. Wish me luck!
~Jenisaur
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Polls are Closed!
Hey Everyone!
The voting has ended and (Big Surprise) Writing has won.
Apparently I'm going to be spending the next few weeks typing the letters off my keyboard. Now for the fun part. There are three days left before June starts up. I would like a challenge that requires that I write every day (otherwise where's the CHALLENGE?) so here's where I need a little help.
I have no idea what the actual challenge should be. I have a few ideas about blog posts, but no ideas about what to do every single day, and I want it to be specific. So. Let me know what you actually want to read. I'm not sure whether to stick with fiction, try some non-fiction, work on a longer project (a la NaNoWriMo, but shorter) or just go back and edit something I've already "completed".
In addition to generating new content, I'm planning to shop around some of the stuff I've already written for playwriting workshops and maybe some short story contests. I've got the Dramatists Sourcebook and a Writer's Market magazine to assist in choosing where I send my stuff. So there you go. Three days to help me pick what the new challenge will be. And then, when June arrives, let the writing madness begin!
The voting has ended and (Big Surprise) Writing has won.
Apparently I'm going to be spending the next few weeks typing the letters off my keyboard. Now for the fun part. There are three days left before June starts up. I would like a challenge that requires that I write every day (otherwise where's the CHALLENGE?) so here's where I need a little help.
I have no idea what the actual challenge should be. I have a few ideas about blog posts, but no ideas about what to do every single day, and I want it to be specific. So. Let me know what you actually want to read. I'm not sure whether to stick with fiction, try some non-fiction, work on a longer project (a la NaNoWriMo, but shorter) or just go back and edit something I've already "completed".
In addition to generating new content, I'm planning to shop around some of the stuff I've already written for playwriting workshops and maybe some short story contests. I've got the Dramatists Sourcebook and a Writer's Market magazine to assist in choosing where I send my stuff. So there you go. Three days to help me pick what the new challenge will be. And then, when June arrives, let the writing madness begin!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Check check check
Here is a super exciting (to me, anyhow...) post about projects I have finished recently:
iTunes library: organized. iPod: updated. Music Collection: happy.
I had to go through and manually add a lot of the artwork, and I put a picture of Tom Selleck for an album of music I stole from my Dad because I like all my albums to have artwork. I also had to go through and manually do a lot of the genres and while I was doing it I thought it was annoying and time-consuming to have all of the categories filled out for every song, but actually it makes finding music and selecting things to put on my iPod SO MUCH EASIER. Plus, the OCD part of me is just tickled pink that everything looks so complete.
Lego Star Wars III Story mode: complete. I'm now trying to 100% the game.
Related story: I have a new feature article up at 3DSbuzz. Click HERE to read about my love for Lego games. I really loved the game, even though I haven't really watched the Clone Wars television show enough to understand the storyline. I just know it was a fun LEGO game to play. I still hate playing as characters who have a gun instead of a lightsaber, but that's because I'm trash at shooting and running at the same time.
Summer Job: Applied for? I applied at the mall at a few stores where I could work for the summer, we'll see if I get any calls from them. I also applied as an editing/writing intern at a video game website that I won't name, but let's just say they're kind of a big deal. Finger's crossed, everyone.
I've got to go write another article for 3DSBuzz, but guess what? Voting ends tomorrow for my poll challenge, which means TOMORROW I'm going to reveal what won and let you know what my plans are for completing the challenge. If you are at all interested in helping decide (or giving me sometime particularly difficult to try--and please do!) let me know in the comments tomorrow, or through the facebook note I'm planning to write. Yaaaay Accomplishments!
~Jenisaur
I had to go through and manually add a lot of the artwork, and I put a picture of Tom Selleck for an album of music I stole from my Dad because I like all my albums to have artwork. I also had to go through and manually do a lot of the genres and while I was doing it I thought it was annoying and time-consuming to have all of the categories filled out for every song, but actually it makes finding music and selecting things to put on my iPod SO MUCH EASIER. Plus, the OCD part of me is just tickled pink that everything looks so complete.
Related story: I have a new feature article up at 3DSbuzz. Click HERE to read about my love for Lego games. I really loved the game, even though I haven't really watched the Clone Wars television show enough to understand the storyline. I just know it was a fun LEGO game to play. I still hate playing as characters who have a gun instead of a lightsaber, but that's because I'm trash at shooting and running at the same time.
Summer Job: Applied for? I applied at the mall at a few stores where I could work for the summer, we'll see if I get any calls from them. I also applied as an editing/writing intern at a video game website that I won't name, but let's just say they're kind of a big deal. Finger's crossed, everyone.
I've got to go write another article for 3DSBuzz, but guess what? Voting ends tomorrow for my poll challenge, which means TOMORROW I'm going to reveal what won and let you know what my plans are for completing the challenge. If you are at all interested in helping decide (or giving me sometime particularly difficult to try--and please do!) let me know in the comments tomorrow, or through the facebook note I'm planning to write. Yaaaay Accomplishments!
~Jenisaur
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Week Three Round-Up: Pirates of the Blogosphere
This week's title is brought to you by Jeremy's brain, and the fact that we have been over-saturated with Piratey goodness all week long.
Congratulations! If you're reading this, it means you have six months to fight off the demons that have descended (ascended?) to Earth before we all get judged!
If you're not reading this, then your life is clearly boring and unfulfilled.
Here's the round-up of last week's activities!!
1. I finished reading the Imagineering Workout. I decided to swap between non-fiction and fiction books, so for my next trick I will be reading the rest of the Hitchiker's series, starting with Life, the Universe and Everything. I'm hoping to knock it out by the end of the week, since it's short and shouldn't take much time at all since I won't be at work except for two days this week. I shall report back.
2. We watched Ratatouille this morning. I've only seen it once before, but I am glad I watched it again, even though my reaction was pretty much the same as I remember it being- I like the artwork and I get really hungry watching that movie, but the story and character development are nothing to write home about. Also it kind of frustrates me that love has to play a part in the story line at all. Why can't two chefs just respect and appreciate each other's work without falling in love? I'm working on a "Disney 50" chart as far as the progress on this project and hope to have it up later this week.
3. I was offered to have a couple of my plays produced by friends at the school, and I'm going to send them By the Sound and A Little Life. I've been working on By the Sound for a good four years now, and just wrote A Little Life last semester. I'm still working on both, but perhaps the goal of production will light a little fire under me to get going on the editing process. I've also written up a list of blog entries I plan to write. Again, hopefully that will get started this week!
4. Pirates of the Caribbean Movie Challenge: Accepted, and near completion. Jer and I watched all three of the Pirates movies last week, and then saw the fourth in theatres last night. I have plenty of thoughts to share, but will spare them for a movie review post that is ALSO on the list of things that need writing. I think I might challenge myself to stop going to the movies until I've written a review for the movies I've seen recently in theatres. Again, fire under the butt in any way possible.
Also, people are actually voting on my poll! Gracias muchas, if you're one of those people. If you're not, then check it out up in the dooblydoo (tm vlogbrothers) and vooooote!
I think that might be it for now.
~Jenisaur
Congratulations! If you're reading this, it means you have six months to fight off the demons that have descended (ascended?) to Earth before we all get judged!
If you're not reading this, then your life is clearly boring and unfulfilled.
Here's the round-up of last week's activities!!
1. I finished reading the Imagineering Workout. I decided to swap between non-fiction and fiction books, so for my next trick I will be reading the rest of the Hitchiker's series, starting with Life, the Universe and Everything. I'm hoping to knock it out by the end of the week, since it's short and shouldn't take much time at all since I won't be at work except for two days this week. I shall report back.
2. We watched Ratatouille this morning. I've only seen it once before, but I am glad I watched it again, even though my reaction was pretty much the same as I remember it being- I like the artwork and I get really hungry watching that movie, but the story and character development are nothing to write home about. Also it kind of frustrates me that love has to play a part in the story line at all. Why can't two chefs just respect and appreciate each other's work without falling in love? I'm working on a "Disney 50" chart as far as the progress on this project and hope to have it up later this week.
3. I was offered to have a couple of my plays produced by friends at the school, and I'm going to send them By the Sound and A Little Life. I've been working on By the Sound for a good four years now, and just wrote A Little Life last semester. I'm still working on both, but perhaps the goal of production will light a little fire under me to get going on the editing process. I've also written up a list of blog entries I plan to write. Again, hopefully that will get started this week!
4. Pirates of the Caribbean Movie Challenge: Accepted, and near completion. Jer and I watched all three of the Pirates movies last week, and then saw the fourth in theatres last night. I have plenty of thoughts to share, but will spare them for a movie review post that is ALSO on the list of things that need writing. I think I might challenge myself to stop going to the movies until I've written a review for the movies I've seen recently in theatres. Again, fire under the butt in any way possible.
Also, people are actually voting on my poll! Gracias muchas, if you're one of those people. If you're not, then check it out up in the dooblydoo (tm vlogbrothers) and vooooote!
I think that might be it for now.
~Jenisaur
Thursday, May 19, 2011
I know it sounds sordid, but you'll be rewarded...
Organizing my iTunes library, since I finally got all my music off my external harddrive and on to my laptop.
Working my way through my massive Disney music collection.
I just obtained a whole bunch of Parks music.
Once this library is organized and no longer gives me anxiety attacks just thinking about it (sad, but true) then it will provide delicious background music for writing and editing.
Procrastinating Jen is writing this post in order to NOT work on important things, and make her OCD about music labeling seem important...
EDIT:
Ten hours later, I have finished with the Disney section of the library. Ten hours, only stopping to use the bathroom. But hot damn does the Disney section look pretty :D
Working my way through my massive Disney music collection.
I just obtained a whole bunch of Parks music.
Once this library is organized and no longer gives me anxiety attacks just thinking about it (sad, but true) then it will provide delicious background music for writing and editing.
 |
| Yes. A day and a half's worth of music in my Disney folder alone... |
Procrastinating Jen is writing this post in order to NOT work on important things, and make her OCD about music labeling seem important...
EDIT:
Ten hours later, I have finished with the Disney section of the library. Ten hours, only stopping to use the bathroom. But hot damn does the Disney section look pretty :D
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Week Two Round-up... A couple days late
After an awesome weekend of doing mostly nothing, here's my report on last week's projects:
2. I haven't yet mentioned that I'm working my way through the list of the 49 Disney animated films that came before Tangled. Last night Jer and I watched Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. They weren't my favorites, but I'm glad I saw them, because they've got so much history behind them and mark an important part of both Disney and America's history. I think that project will probably get it's own post tomorrow, with a more in depth explanation of what I mean by that.
 |
| What my Pie would have looked like... 1. I branched out my pie making skills and tried my hand at a lemon meringue instead of my standard apple. It took a lot longer than I expected, and I don't think it was the best, but my taste testers disagree. I had tried making meringue before and knew that was going to be the hardest part, and it did actually take me two batches before I got it right, but I nailed it on that second go. The cake baked perfectly with beautiful brown edges and peaks of meringue... and then it all ended in tragedy when my house mates decided to store their left over party food ON TOP OF MY PIE IN THE FRIDGE which is why there are no photographs. Because really, that pie was beautiful, and then when I finally got the guts up to peel away the tin foil, the meringue had stuck itself to the foil and was no longer part of the pie. I guess that will teach me to try and make delicious things in a house full of barbarians... (just a few more months before Jer and I get to move out...) Anyhow I learned that I can't rush the baking process and I really need to remember to read the ingredients and directions list all the way through before starting. I realized halfway through that I had no cream of tartar, but my Mom came to the rescue and looked up substitutes online for me. As it turns out, lemon juice (1/4 tsp lemon juice for every 1/8 tsp cream of tartar) works just as well. |
 |
| About as sexy as you would expect |
3. I'm burning through Star Wars III on my 3DS, and once I've beaten it I'll post a review (and I'll be allowed to buy Lego: Pirates for the 3DS... I've decided I can only buy it once I've beaten Star Wars.). Jer and I started playing Lego: Pirates for the xbox 360 and it already glitched once on us. Lego, when are you going to get all your glitches sorted out? I love you, I'm still going to keep buying your games (Harry Potter II please...) but you really need to stop.
4. I promised a review of Thor last week and then never delivered. That's my project for either tonight or tomorrow. Time got away from me, and then I got away from reality and went to see Bowling for Soup in the city with Magz, Ben and Jer, followed by a lovely weekend doing literally nothing in Atlantic City, so... More regular writing this week.
That's week two in review, I guess. I'm thinking about starting a real writing project for the month of June, either for writing reviews or editing regularly and posting the edited scenes from By the Sound. I'm also hoping to shop some of my one acts that I know aren't finished to workshops and costumes and things like that. We shall see.
Until next time!
~Jenisaur
4. I promised a review of Thor last week and then never delivered. That's my project for either tonight or tomorrow. Time got away from me, and then I got away from reality and went to see Bowling for Soup in the city with Magz, Ben and Jer, followed by a lovely weekend doing literally nothing in Atlantic City, so... More regular writing this week.
That's week two in review, I guess. I'm thinking about starting a real writing project for the month of June, either for writing reviews or editing regularly and posting the edited scenes from By the Sound. I'm also hoping to shop some of my one acts that I know aren't finished to workshops and costumes and things like that. We shall see.
Until next time!
~Jenisaur
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
One Little Spark... of inspiration
Oh hai!
I've decided to replace my morning romp on the internet with a morning reading session. This week, I'm working on reading a book I bought written by Disney Imagineers. It's all about unlocking your creative potential, which is what I really need to work on doing in general, because I'm sick of spending the better portion of my time harvesting digital crops. So here we go. I'm only about 20 pages in and I already feel more creative! Is that weird? Probably. Accurate? Yes.
The book is called The Imagineering Workout and it's awesome. One of the things it highly recommends is that I set realistic goals for the projects I'm working on, and one of my projects is (ironically?) this blog, so I decided to dash out a quick entry before continuing to read. I'm going to be working on editing my first (and favorite) play, called By the Sound, which I got to produce back at Goucher last spring to a little bit of success, but first and foremost I want to finish reading this book. Away I go, I guess!
I've decided to replace my morning romp on the internet with a morning reading session. This week, I'm working on reading a book I bought written by Disney Imagineers. It's all about unlocking your creative potential, which is what I really need to work on doing in general, because I'm sick of spending the better portion of my time harvesting digital crops. So here we go. I'm only about 20 pages in and I already feel more creative! Is that weird? Probably. Accurate? Yes.
The book is called The Imagineering Workout and it's awesome. One of the things it highly recommends is that I set realistic goals for the projects I'm working on, and one of my projects is (ironically?) this blog, so I decided to dash out a quick entry before continuing to read. I'm going to be working on editing my first (and favorite) play, called By the Sound, which I got to produce back at Goucher last spring to a little bit of success, but first and foremost I want to finish reading this book. Away I go, I guess!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Week One Round-Up: Meatballs and Norse Gods and Mario, Oh My!
Oh, hai! I've decided every Saturday I'm going to do a general update on allllll my projects, so here's week one:
2. The Hero boyfriend and I went to see Thor last night and it was great. Why does this make the project list? I used to write for a movie review site named Screenspotlight.com, reviewing movies and writing entertainment news. I really miss it, and I want to start writing about movies again. I'm working on a real review of Thor, hopefully it will be up by Monday (Spoiler Alert: I loved it.)
3. Super Mario Galaxy has reentered my life. I love that game, regardless of what I might say while I'm actually playing it. I know, that game is from 2007, Jen, it's old news, get over it. Fine, but I haven't beaten it yet, and it's one of my current projects, so... : P I've beaten the game to the point where I could go get Peach from Bowser, but I want more stars. I'm trying to beat the bouldergeist on a daredevil run. It's proving far more difficult than I expected. Jer (The Hero, by the way) suggested I play Galaxy 2 a bit to get my skill back up and then go back to the original game. That might be what happens.
4. Summer is right on the horizon and I'm looking for work. I haven't gotten into any of the summer programs at the theaters I've applied to, and I'm still trying to get a straight answer out of my number one choice (which I won't name here until I finally do hear...) I've got a little volunteer work to keep me busy for now, and I'm still on staff at 3dsbuzz.com, but I am definitely on the look out for something with hours that are a little more... regular. It's taking up more time than I'd like to admit.
Alrighty. So that's the week in review, it's been pretty busy despite the fact that I've been laying around with flu-like symptoms since Tuesday. Hopefully, next week will be even more productive (And I get to go see Magz, and then Bowling for Soup on Friday!! W0000!) especially since my last school assignment for the year is due Tuesday...
Enjoy the remainder of the weekend, and don't forget to call your Mom tomorrow!
~Jenisaur
Monday, May 2, 2011
Like Everybody Else, I've got a Dream!
Oh Hai!
New York Comic-Con is in October. This will be my second year attending (hopefully) and I'm planning to go in costume this year. Last year I just wore nerdy t-shirts, but this year?
New York Comic-Con is in October. This will be my second year attending (hopefully) and I'm planning to go in costume this year. Last year I just wore nerdy t-shirts, but this year?
This year I'm going to be Rapunzel, from Disney's Tangled.
I love love loved this movie when I saw it in theatres. Mostly Pascal just did something special for me (He's the chameleon in the dress...) because I love off-beat sidekicks, and off-beat heroes. Plus...
...Flynn Rider was particularly attractive.
I like Rapunzel's dress for most of the movie, but I LOVE her dress at the end. When I decided I was going to make myself a Rapunzel gown, I looked at both costumes at length (the animation in this movie is so good, you can even seen the stitching in both gowns if you press pause at the right moments...) and decided not only would the second dress be easier to make, I think I will probably look better in it, and less like an Easter Egg. So, I set out screencapping, with the hopes of both being able to design my own version of the second Dress AND a Flynn Rider vest for my hero of a boyfriend.
Here's the screencaps I managed to grab (SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't seen this movie, you should.)
Okay so Step ONE down. Then, when I was at Joann's this weekend looking for fabric for said hero boyfriend's Jedi Costume: Take Two (More about that in another post) I started looking through patterns that might be helpful for designing this costume. I've decided to piece together two patterns, both from McCalls.
McCalls M6343 will be a good skirt pattern, although I think the picture on the pattern is hideous, and I'll be combining pieces from that bodice with McCalls M4491, the dress in the bottom left corner:
I know I'm going to need Pink/light purple satin or sateen like fabric for the actual gown, and the underneath part of the bodice sort of looks like velvet... We'll see how I like those two textures against each other. I'm also going to need lace and ribbon, to finish off the details of the dress. I may end up either embroidering or painting on the patterns to the bodice and skirt, depending on how delicate the fabric is and how I like the look of each method.
I think I'll order the patterns with my next paycheck, since I can't do anything about the actual dress until I've got money enough to buy fabric.
And that's about as far as I've gotten today.
Please feel free to leave questions, comments, and suggestions down below!
Introduction Post
Oh Hai!
I'm Jenisaur! Welcome to my newest blog!
I'm a graduate student at Montclair State University, studying theatre and hoping to be able to write and dramaturg and teach and work for Disney once I'm done here.
In the mean time (and really, all the time) I'm working on a thousand little projects, and I thought this might be a nice place to keep track of it all.
I'll tag my posts so that you can easily find what I'm working on based on categories, such as crafting (mostly costumes, but I also have some interesting ideas for bookcases in the works...) and reading and writing and food. I'm always on an adventure somewhere, and I hope you're just as interested in some of these adventures as I am!
Please, feel free to comment, leave suggestions or ask about adventures YOU would like to go on, I'll do my best to help!
Enjoy!
I'm Jenisaur! Welcome to my newest blog!
I'm a graduate student at Montclair State University, studying theatre and hoping to be able to write and dramaturg and teach and work for Disney once I'm done here.
In the mean time (and really, all the time) I'm working on a thousand little projects, and I thought this might be a nice place to keep track of it all.
I'll tag my posts so that you can easily find what I'm working on based on categories, such as crafting (mostly costumes, but I also have some interesting ideas for bookcases in the works...) and reading and writing and food. I'm always on an adventure somewhere, and I hope you're just as interested in some of these adventures as I am!
Please, feel free to comment, leave suggestions or ask about adventures YOU would like to go on, I'll do my best to help!
Enjoy!
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